


Island in the Sun

by MildlyMoonstruck



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A Veritable Cornucopia of Fluff, Alternate Universe - Beach, Gen, Kind of Super Super Loosely Based Off of Aquamarine, M/M, Mindless Fluff, Multi, ON HIATUS - See Author Profile, Romantic Comedy, Stupid Dumb Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-28
Updated: 2013-12-28
Packaged: 2018-01-06 11:12:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1106131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MildlyMoonstruck/pseuds/MildlyMoonstruck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabel Magnolia is a woman of means. So basically, when she says that she's going to help her big brother get a date to the end-of-the-summer beach bash, she means it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Island in the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> So I asked for Ereri AU prompts on tumblr and I got this marvelous one from the-absence-of-eternity which suggested a beach/seaside town AU, and I flashbacked to the summer of 2006, which was the first time I watched (and loved) the movie 'Aquamarine', so this happened. Basically, I need a tiny tiny break from KYHU and ALLD and I'm just indulging myself with this. It's funny and fluffy and dumb and I'm having fun with it, so, yee. It'll be short, not much more than a handful of chapters, but I hope you enjoy it.

“It’s in a week.”

“So?”

Isabel groans and tosses herself over the counter, arms falling limply over the book that Levi had been reading. She completely misses the irritated glance he throws her way and refuses to budge when he taps her on the head. “Come _on_ ,” she wheedles, grabbing at his hand and clutching it with a melodramatic look. “You _can’t_ not go. It’s the big dance! The Last Splash! It’s literally—”

“One splash too many, if you ask me.”

“—the _most_ important night of the—you know, that wasn’t funny—”

“It was hilarious.”

“—of the summer, and you’re just gonna spend it inside? Reading?” she finishes incredulously, tugging the book away and holding it up between them. She jerks it away just in time when he makes an unsuccessful grab at it.

Levi’s brows pull down in an unamused glower. “Give it back.”

“No.”

“I’m gonna—”

“Tell Mom?” she cuts him off, hopping away from the counter and dancing across the kitchen, book still in hand. She flips it open to a random page, puts on a mock-scowl, and makes a ridiculous attempt to deepen her voice. “I’m Levi. I hate my last name and people always thought I was a girl when I was little—”

“Isabel.”

“—which is why I avoid social interaction and only have like five friends, not even—”

“ _Isabel_.”

“—and I’m incredibly short for my age,” she continues, nearly yelping when Levi leaps clear over the counter and lunges for her; she scampers out of the kitchen and down the hall, straight through the living room and out the front door.

“I read everything in sight but don’t know the definition of fun,” Isabel shouts, waving the book high above her head as she flies down the wooden steps, barefoot, and takes off for the shoreline, deliberately kicking up sand behind her as she goes. She hears her brother closing in fast, angrily calling after her. “That’s probably why my little sister has been on a date before I have and why I’d rather sit inside like an angry little baby than go to the Last Splash with everyone, and—”

Isabel pauses after a few moments, winded and realizing that she’s no longer being pursued. She glances over her shoulder back towards the house and feels her gut flip-flop with the painful swoop of guilt when she sees Levi briskly making his way back up the steps, away from her.

“Levi, wait!” she pleads, dropping the book and darting after him. He ignores her, but when he goes back into the house, he leaves the front door open behind him rather than shutting it in her face, and now she feels even guiltier. She slams it shut once she’s inside and finds him right back at the kitchen counter. Isabel pauses in the doorway and shuffles from foot to foot, unsure of whether Levi will even stay in the room if she enters.

She glances down and nervously picks at her nails. “I didn’t mean it,” she mumbles. She sneaks a glance over at Levi from under her bangs and gives him an apologetic look when she notices that he’s watching her. Cautiously, she makes her way over and kneels by his seat so that he’s looking down at her for once. She pokes at his kneecaps. “I was just kidding.”

“It wasn’t funny.”

“I know,” she whimpers, nodding. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“Yeah, well, nobody likes having something like that pointed out to them,” he mutters bitterly.

Isabel groans and drops her head down onto his knees with a soft thump. “It’s not as bad as you think it is, though. I mean, it didn’t even work out between me and Farlan; we’re better as friends. And—and it’s not like you’re weird or anything. Lots of people your age have never been on dates before!”

“It’s still kind of pathetic that I’m gonna be a senior in high school and I’ve never even been on one date before. Meanwhile, _you’ve_ had like, fifty—”

“Excuse me, it was _five_.”

“—and you’re just a kid.”

Isabel shoots to her feet and splutters indignantly, “I—You know—I’m—I’m _not_ a kid; I’m fifteen!”

“You’re just a kid,” Levi repeats almost mockingly, tweaking her nose.

“A kid whose been on more dates than you have,” Isabel mutters under her breath, yelping when Levi tugs on one of her little pigtails. “Stop,” she whines, swatting at him and walking away before he can do it again. She grabs a fresh apple out of the fruit basket on the counter and munches on it thoughtfully. “Why don’t you just go to the dance with your friends, though? Aren’t they gonna be there?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Levi chides, more out of habit from being the big brother who’s always watching over her rather than actually scolding her. Still, it’s gross. He stares out at the sea through the big bay window rather than watch her obnoxiously chew her food on purpose just to annoy him. “They’re all going, but they’re all getting dates.”

“Even Hanji?”

“Hanji’s had a date for like, a week.”

“What?!” Isabel shrieks, hitting a pitch that only other teenage girls and neighborhood dogs can hear. “Who?”

“That one guy lifeguarding over at Sina Sands. What’s-his-face.”

“Moblit?!”

“If you say so,” he murmurs, propping his chin up on one hand and watching Isabel freak out. She twirls around the kitchen, alternating between cheerful giggling and adamantly insisting that she won’t let Hanji get away with not telling her as soon as they’d gotten together. “Yeah, like I said,” Levi calls, drawing Isabel’s attention again. “They’re all getting dates.”

She blinks hard at him, wracking her brain for possibilities. All she comes up with is, “Even Erwin?”

Levi grimaces. “We’re best friends; that’s disgusting and weird.”

“But couldn’t you go as—as bros or something? Or whatever it is guys do?”

“Even if I was even remotely interested in doing that, he’s got a date.”

“Who’s _he_ going with?”

“Nile.”

“Seriously?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Does he still have that creepy goatee?”

“Yeah.”

“Ew.”

“That’s what I said.”

Isabel wrinkles her nose and shakes her head like she can’t believe the world she lives in. She tosses the apple core into the trash, pumping her fist and hissing, “Yes, ten points.” She turns back to her brother and leans her elbows on the counter, pouting. “Well, there’s still a week. You could find someone.”

“Yeah, has it occurred to you yet that maybe I don’t want to?”

“Why wouldn’t you wanna go to the Last Splash? It’s the biggest party of the summer! The last hurrah! One more fun night before school starts again. Who’d wanna miss that?”

“Someone who doesn’t give two shits about parties,” Levi answers flatly.

Isabel glares at him, brows pulling down in a perfect mimicry of his own scowl. “Liar.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes you _are_ ,” she huffs, pushing herself up onto the countertop and crawling over. “We used to go to every single beach party last summer; what happened? Didn’t you have fun?” When he doesn’t answer, Isabel decides to be brave and grabs his face to make him look at her. She puts on her best attempt at The Look—eyes huge and pleading, bottom lip jutting out just enough to look like a sincerely downhearted pout rather than the ploy for his cooperation that it really is. She can pinpoint the exact moment that he starts to panic because it’s the exact moment that she can feel the crocodile tears pricking her eyes.

“Stop that.”

“No,” she whimpers. “Not until you agree to go to the party.”

“No way in hell.”

“Then tell me _why_.”

“I don’t _want to_ ,” Levi fires back, copying her tone.

“But _why?_ ”

Whatever Levi is about to say—likely another insistence that he simply isn’t interested, which Isabel is convinced is complete crap—is moot when they hear the front door open and their mother calls out, “Levi! Isabel! Come meet the Jaegers!”

Isabel frowns at her brother. “Who?” she whispers.

Levi’s brow twitches, and he murmurs back, “Do you pay attention to anything besides yourself?”

“No. Who?”

He rolls his eyes and finally gets up from his seat, taking her hand to help her slide down off the counter. “They’re the people renting the first floor. Mom and Dad mentioned them at least five times yesterday, jeez, kid.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

She pinches his cheek and he pinches her nose, which leads to them playfully shoving each other all the way down the hall and to the front door. Isabel grabs his arm and puts it around her shoulder, grinning cheekily when Levi gives her a withering look. She kicks the door open, hearing his exasperated groan and cutting her eyes at him when she mutters, “Levi, be nice.”

“You’re not—Mom,” Levi retorts, faltering over the last word, and Isabel watches as his irritated expression slackens and then goes utterly blank, save for his eyes, which are wide in surprise and fixed dead ahead. She turns to see what he’s staring at.

Despite what Levi thinks, Isabel does pay attention to plenty of things besides herself—like him, for instance. He’s a very close second, but she ultimately knows that no one is more important than her, not even her big brother. So, she is fully aware that for the past few months, their parents have been talking about renting the first level of their two-story beach house to another family once summer ends. They’re not moving away or anything—they’ve lived on the coast their entire life, in fact—but it’s such a waste of space to have an entire level go unused.

Plus, Isabel’s been hoping for some really cool neighbors; she won’t admit it to anyone but her journal, but she’s possessed a secret wish for life to work out exactly like a romantic comedy for once, where a really gorgeous boy moves next door—or in this case, down below—and falls absolutely head-over-heels for her, leading to the perfect Whirlwind Romance the likes of which she’s only seen in ‘Titanic’—only no one freezes to death. No one dies at all, actually—or ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’—except with someone way cuter than Matthew McConaughey.

That was the plan, at least.

She spots the Jaegers down below, the parents talking to her own. They look nice enough, smiley and middle-aged, and fanning themselves—probably not used to this kind of heat, she thinks. There’s a teenage girl down there, too, with the prettiest, thick black hair that Isabel’s ever seen, and she lifts a hand to idly finger her own messy pigtails and thinks about asking her for her name and what kind of conditioner she uses when she notices _him._

_‘Jackpot.’_

He’s gorgeous—there is literally no other word for it, not that she’s ever been all that good with words anyway, but _wow._ Tall, tan, and with one of those faces that could either pass for fifteen or twenty, depending on the lighting and clothing and maybe the hairstyle— _‘His hair looks good, though. Like, really soft,’_ she thinks, _‘Wow, I wanna touch it.’_ —but either way, he is absolutely _perfect_ , a million and one times better than Matthew McConaughey, although she’d definitely have to do a side-by-side comparison before she makes any judgments on whether or not he surpasses a young Leonardo DiCaprio.

And then Isabel freezes, thoughts screeching to a halt for all of half a second before they pick up again at triple-speed. Her head whips around to stare at Levi—if her hair was longer, her pigtails would’ve smacked him right in the face, and she thanks God that it isn’t because it would’ve snapped him out of the dopiest expression she’s ever seen on his face in all her fifteen years of life. He’s staring at the new guy.

Blatantly.

“Oh my God,” she hisses, and she feels him tense and sees him wipe his face blank, but it’s too late. She’s seen it. “Oh my _God._ You—”

“Don’t.”

“— _like_ him.”

“Isabel,” Levi snaps, fingers tightening warningly around her shoulder. “Don’t even think about it.”

Isabel’s mouth drops open with a quiet pop. He isn’t denying it, and her day has just gotten a thousand times better. She grins and reaches up to pat him on the back, whispering reassuringly, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

“I said don’t—”

“ _Hi there!_ ” Isabel hollers, waving her free arm and bounding down the steps two at a time, dragging an almost-horrified Levi down with her. She hears their mom introducing the pair of them as their children and makes it down to the bottom without stumbling, for once, but she doesn’t have time to be proud of herself because she’s zeroed right in on the new guy, sticking out her hand and flashing him a megawatt smile as she chirps, “I’m Isabel Magnolia; pleased to meet you!”

_‘This is the only time in my life I will ever think this but, please, gods of the Perfect Summer Romance, please let this boy be a raging homosexual. Amen.’_

“I’m Eren,” he says, laughing a little nervously. He shakes her hand and offers her a tiny smile, and it’s just enough for Isabel to catch sight of perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. She just barely manages to keep her grip steady instead of crushing his hand with the intense force of her desire to play matchmaker. _‘Baby steps,’_ she tells herself, letting go of his hand and elbowing her brother in the side.

Eren looks at him, and his smile is a little wider than the one he’d given her. Isabel bites back a grin and bounces on the balls of her feet once before slipping out from under Levi’s arm and stepping over to the girl with pretty hair. She holds out her hand again and repeats, “I’m Isabel; pleased to meet you.”

The girl gives her a very faint smile, but her eyes are warm when she accepts the handshake and says, “Mikasa. Nice to meet you, too. And before you ask, yeah, I’m adopted.”

Isabel bobs her head in an understanding nod. “Ah, I wasn’t sure if I could ask, but I figured. And I get it. I mean, I don’t, but people always ask me if I’m adopted. The hair color throws them off,” she explains, twirling an auburn-dyed strand around her finger. Mikasa nods at her and she nods again at Mikasa, and then the both of them turn to look at their brothers.

Isabel almost wants to grab a hank of her hair and tug it out in sheer frustration, because Levi isn’t even trying to be civil. In fact, he’s not even trying to make conversation at all. He’s completely ignoring Eren, staring off in the general direction of the sea instead, with the most bored expression she’s ever seen him wear.

Eren doesn’t look much better, hands shoved deep in his pockets and nervously shuffling from foot to foot. He awkwardly clears his throat. Levi doesn’t even blink.

Isabel huffs in irritation, the sound drawing Levi’s attention; he glances at her warningly, and she scowls at him and mouths an exasperated, ‘ _Come on.’_

He quirks a brow at her and doesn’t rise to the bait.

But then his gaze flicks over to Eren—it’s quick, but it’s at just the right moment, because their eyes meet. Isabel doesn’t even try to stop the smile that comes now; it’s just too perfect. She pauses, though; Eren might be straight. She sends up another quick prayer to the Perfect Summer Romance gods.

 _‘This is the one time I’m not being selfish here, come on. My brother needs a date to the Last Splash; this is a desperate situation. Saint Anne, Saint Anne, bring Levi a man,’_ she mentally chants, and then she runs through a list of Rose Magazine articles she remembers being about decoding a man’s body language; the number she’s read this week alone is too high for her to be proud of, but she very nearly snaps her fingers when she recalls a good one.

 _‘Gay or straight, boys are boys,’_ Isabel tells herself, studying Eren closely. He’s talking to Levi now, and Levi looks disinterested, but Isabel knows him well enough to see that he’s obviously faking it, with his body turned away but head tilted towards Eren. ‘ _Dumb and predictable. Okay. Okay, what did that thing say? What’s the first sign? Something about the face? Eyes? No. Head? Hair—hair! Hair fluffing, yes, okay, go. C’mon new kid, we’ve got a deadline, here.’_

Isabel brings her thumb up to her mouth, idly chewing on the nail; she’d been trying to break the habit lately because it left her unable to get manicures and her brother always tells her how gross it is, but she can’t be bothered to care about that right now. There are more important things at stake, like her brother’s love life, or lack thereof.

Eren asks him for his name, Levi spends a couple of seconds trying to stare anywhere but at him before he finally answers; Isabel wiggles her fingers impatiently before crossing her arms and tapping them against her biceps. Eren says something she can’t quite hear, but then he laughs, and Levi’s attempts at looking unaffected are suddenly severely weakened, and Isabel can’t blame him. _‘If he’s straight, I’m not gonna complain. Nope. No, no, stop that,’_ she chastises herself, giving her head a little shake to dispel the bad thoughts. _‘This is supposed to be for Levi. Ugh, come on, be interested for Levi.’_

Isabel freezes and her eyes widen to the size of saucers when Eren lifts a hand—and no, she doesn’t miss the way that Levi’s gaze is absolutely riveted by that toned arm, _wow_ —and slowly ruffles those thick, brunette locks as he flashes a charming grin. His cheeks look pink, but Isabel can’t tell if it’s a blush or just sunburn but either way, she’s internally crowing with victory because the first sign of interest has just been displayed.

And then Isabel is practically ready to do a backflip off the deck—except not really, because the last time she did that was during her cheer routine at the end-of-the-year pep rally and she hasn’t exactly been keeping in shape this summer, but _still_ —because Eren lifts both arms above his head in one smooth move and stretches with a quiet groan.

“Oh my God,” she blurts out; stretching is sign number two. When nearly everyone turns to look at her for the outburst, she claps a hand over her mouth and dashes over to Levi, grabbing him ignoring the venomous look he shoots her way. “I just remembered a thing I have to do and Levi has to help me,” she lies, beaming at the newcomers. “It was super nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Jaeger. Mikasa, I’ll be seeing you soon considering we’re neighbors and all; let’s hang out, yeah?” She pauses on purpose. “Eren, you and my big brother should hang out too. He can show you around; he’s gotta get out more anyway.”

Isabel lets go of Levi’s arm and bounds up the stairs, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder and see if she’s gotten results. But she knows that the idea that’s taken root in her mind is absolutely genius when she hears the soft, “See you around, Levi,” that comes from the new kid.

There’s no way she’s imagining the infatuation in his voice. No way at all. And her she feels like she could not only do a backflip but a full triple layout—she totally can’t, but that’s beside the point—when she hears her brother mutter a hasty, “See ya,” before he follows her up the stairs.

Isabel throws the door open and lets it bang against the wall while she dances around the living room, giggling like a maniac. She doesn’t stop when Levi comes in after her and shuts it with a quietly threatening, “Isabel, I swear to God.”

“You like him!” she crows, bouncing over and grabbing his wrists. She hops up and down, unmindful of the scowl on his face. “I saw it! I can tell! You’re _smitten_ —”

“Do not,” he snaps, pulling away and stomping off towards the kitchen with all of the touchiness of a sexually repressed teenage boy.

“You know what this means!” Isabel shouts after him, tumbling down onto the couch and kicking her feet in the air. She waits a couple of seconds and tries not to feel too smug when she hears significantly more subdued footsteps coming back towards her.

“What?” Levi asks, apprehensive. Isabel snickers.

“You don’t have an excuse not to go to the Last Splash anymore.”

“Yes I do,” he retorts. “One, it’s stupid. Two, I don’t want to. Three, I’m not gonna be an eleventh wheel, or however many fucking friends I have.”

Isabel pops up and frowns at him over the back of the couch. He’s standing at the front of the hallway, arms folded like he’s the supreme authority and she’s incredibly wrong. She rolls her eyes and starts ticking off the rebuttals on her fingers. “One, it’s not stupid, because we’ve gone before and you told me you loved it, so I’m going to be really upset if you lied about that. I might even cry. Two, again, we’ve gone before and you said you wanted to then, so if you don’t want to now, I can only assume that you lied before, and I’m going to be really upset. I’ll definitely cry.”

When he looks sufficiently horrified at the thought of her tears, she grins like the Cheshire Cat and says definitively, “Three, you won’t have to be an eleventh wheel, or however many friends you have, because you’re going to get a date, and I’m going to help you.”

Levi’s gaze darts briefly to the doorway, and Isabel knows what he’s thinking, so she slams a hand down on the back of the couch and shouts, “Ah-ha! I knew it! I _knew_ it!”

“You don’t know anything,” Levi says, but the fact that his voice is so toneless tells her just how much he’s trying to hide how he really feels.

“Ask Eren to the Last Splash!” she orders, and he doesn’t even bat an eye. She has to applaud him; his poker face is unmatched by anyone she’s ever met, but he’s her big brother, so she knows just how to get under his skin. “If you won’t, I will. I mean, who in their right mind would say no to me?”

Levi’s brow twitches, ever so slightly. “He’s too old for you.”

Isabel snorts inelegantly. “Maybe he’s too young for you.”

Levi opens his mouth to respond and then snaps it shut, teeth audibly clicking together. He frowns at her and then walks out of the room. “You’re insane,” is all he says.

Isabel flops back down onto the couch, clapping her hands together. “You can’t fool me,” she mutters to herself, tapping her chin thoughtfully and rapidly forming a plan. She’ll need help, of course, but she knows just who to turn to. She whips out her phone and scrolls through her contacts, checking the boxes next to the two names of the people she’s about to compose a message to.

 _‘Ladies,’_ it begins. _‘I have a proposal. As you know, the Last Splash is a week from today. My big brother is, obviously, an idiot and acts like he doesn’t want to go because it’s boring and stupid, but really, it’s because he’s a big, dumb human being like the rest of us and doesn’t want to go alone. My plan is to land him a date with the cutie who just moved into the first level with his family today.’_

A quick switch to camera mode and surreptitiously snapping a picture or two out of the window, and Isabel continues, _‘His name’s Eren Jaeger and my brother stared at him like Zachary Quinto had just walked up to him and handed him a hotel room key. This is Serious Business. Special sleepover/meeting to form battle plans at my place tonight, okay? Be there or be square.’_

Isabel hits ‘send’ and snaps her phone shut with a satisfied little smirk. _‘I’m the best little sister in the world.’_


End file.
